San Antonio daily light. [volume] (San Antonio, Tex.) 1886-1907, 1887-07-23
A COLONIAL TRAGEDY.
BY AL. W. CROwELL.

There were no two sides to the question,
the old house was haunted! 1t was a
large. square mansion of red brick, built
more than hundred years ago upon solid
rock, close to the edge of the great, gray
cliff that rose, tall and straight, sheer hun
dreds of feet from the fretful waves of the
mighty ocean that laved its base. 1t had
been erected by Major John Vancouver,
loyal subject of the king, A. ID. 1865 and
was considered iR its day magnificent de-
sign of r ndisSdltCe, style and architecture,
but now it is very dingy and weatherwOrn;
the rains and winds of a century have beaten
against its walls, yet they still stand as firm
ly as Major John intended they should,
when so long ago he set the cornerstone
with his own hands, placing beneath it the
colonial coins, the pine-tree shilling he had
reserved as a relic of earlier days, a copy of
the British Gazette, and a verbatim report
written in the Generals own angular hand
and with his heaviest quill pen, of the cele.
brated Stamp Act.
The picture of Major IOhn, to be seen
even now at the head of the stairs in the
wide, oak hall, represents him as an austere
man of fifty, or thereabOut determination
and will in every line of his grizzled feat.
ures; a military bearing and military
equipment, the loyal colOrs of King George
folded across his breast, his sword halt
drawn from its scabbard, as tho in rebuke
to the mutterings of contemporary cOlonists
who were finding a cause for discomfort and
Justly so, in the taxation of their King.
The Major was comparatively new resi-.
dent of the colonies, having crossed in the
Alliance five years prior to the erection OF
l. Of tho pnpupGt n biG GOVprpipn
who had appointed him commandant of the
standing army at Fort North, hence his mill.
tary title. The residence was built upon
prOmOntOry at the entrance of bay, the
safest and best harbOr upon the coast fol-
hundreds of miles, Upon the opposite cliff
stone lighthouse was erected, which was
destined to be of much service to Britain
during Revolutionary days a gentle de.
cline, in length many English rods, led frOD
the Majors mansion down to the sea, and &c
the thriving colony upon its shores.
When the last brick was laid, Major John
turned his business over to an adjutant and
sailed for England. Affairs in the colonies
were in a feTment of incipient rebellion be.
cause of English taxation and misrule, yet
no trouble was anticipated as yet by British
IOyalistS. Public meetings were held nightly
in all colonial towns, and indignant speeches
were the order of the evening. Petitions
were drawn for presentation to the King,
some mildly cOnciliatOry, some OVERLOOKING
with reproach and scarcely concealed anger
and hatred for English law and injustice.
One of the tiercest of these latter was
manuscript drawn by one Ralph Henfdon,
from the village upon the shores of VancOu-
ver's Harbor. The ship which carried the
Major to England transported also this paper
to King George IL
Ralph HerndOn was young man of TWEEN
ty-three handsome, talented and warm,
reckless partisan against the wrong the
mOther-cOuntry was Inhicting upon her
alien children. He had the beauty Of an
Apollo, the eye of Cromwell, the elOquence
of Pitt and the Tecklessness of hot
headed youth. 1t was whispered that love
affair across the Atlantic in which a stern
father had figured as the cause of separation
between two loving hearts, had caused his
hatred to the Kingdom and all its loyal
servants.
Be that as it may, the next ship which
anchored in the bay four months later,
brought to its shores Major John Vancouver
and young and lovely bride; also a paper
% the Magistrate of the colOGY. from En-